William West Anderson sources

William West Anderson Biography:

Though West enjoyed reasonable success in movies, his big break arrived when he was selected to play the crime-fighting superhero Batman in the 1966 television series.

After in life, he’d relocate to la, California, and go back to his home state, to the town of Walla Walla. His mom proved to be a gifted vocalist, who fought depression and alcoholism.

In 1943, West’s parents divorced and he moved along with his mom to Seattle, where he attended Lakeside High School. West continued his schooling at nearby Witman College, earning a diploma in literature and psychology. While still a pupil, West was employed as a radio disc jockey and helped establish a military television station.

In 1955, a school friend offered West a part as a sidekick on a Hawaiian children’s program, The Kini Popo Show. Taking the offer, West moved to Hawaii, where he became a local celebrity among kids and grownups. While supplementing his income by employed as an isle tour guide, he captured the focus of a vacationing Hollywood representative, who encouraged him to screen test for Warner Bros. Studios. After delivering an effective audition, West was signed to a contract and moved to Hollywood.

Throughout the 1960s, West appreciated a continuous flow of supporting parts in television and movie. In 1961, West got a recurring role as Sergeant Steve Nelson on the hit TV series The Detectives.

Although West enjoyed reasonable success in movies, his big break arrived when he was selected to play the crime-fighting superhero Batman in the 1966 TV series. Burt Ward was contracted to play Robin, finishing the Dynamic Duo.

Batman premiered in 1966 to high evaluations and equally remarkable critical acclaim. The appeal of the show swelled into a fantastic amount, making household names of West and Ward.

In the summer of 1966, West starred in the full length feature Batman. The theatrical version compared the superhero against an all star cast of villains, including Frank Gorshin’s Riddler, Burgess Meredith’s Penguin, and Lee Meriwether’s Catwoman.

After two successful seasons, escalating production costs and flagging evaluations caused ABC to cancel the Batman show about midway through its third season in 1968. Typecasting brought West’s career into a grinding halt. With the overwhelming awareness of failure, West was reduced to making guest appearances as Batman at county fairs and rodeos.

During the the next couple of years, West took whatever work he was offered, including low budget humiliations such as The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977) to quality jobs such as the action-laced humor Hooper (1978). During the 1980s, West was featured in a slew of forgettable jobs, for instance, raunchy bike picture Hellriders (1984) as well as the inexperienced horror movie Zombie Nightmares (1986).

In 1989, West enjoyed a revival of popularity together with the highly anticipated launch of Tim Burton’s hit Batman, which featured Michael Keaton in the title role. To coincide together with the movie, the first Batman show returned to airwaves all over the world. During the 1990s, three more full length Batman episodes were released—Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997).

In 1950, West married his school buddy Billie Lou Yeager. The couple divorced in 1956. The next year, the couple wed a Hawaiian dancer, Nga Dawson, with whom he had two kids. In 1962, his second union fell apart when Nga left him for another guy. In 1970, the couple married Marcelle Lear. West and Lear had two kids.